Note: A postscript regarding a gelatin assay to determine MMP-9 activity was added to this post on Feb 25, 2021. Introduction The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain chemistry by restricting the permeability of undesirable small molecules and cells. Inflammatory diseases may disrupt the BBB and promote the development of neurological…
Introduction My previous post focused on attempts to reproducibly generate collagen IV with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) so that we would be able to establish protocols for basement membrane protein detection and degradation measurement. Following my presentation on November 18 2020, there were some questions regarding whether or not the observed collagen IV…
Introduction Inflammatory diseases have the potential to disrupt blood vessel permeability. This has serious ramifications for the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which is the interface between the vasculature and the brain. A healthy BBB allows essential nutrients to pass through while excluding molecules that might alter brain chemistry. If inflammation were to increase the BBB’s permeability…